1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more specifically, to an electrical connector that facilitates the assembly of the connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical connectors are used in a wide variety of applications. The use of standardized electrical connectors provides an easy and convenient method for establishing an electrical connection between two separate elements of an electrical circuit. The use of such electrical connectors is well known in the art. The manufacture of electrical connectors can, however, present difficulties.
For some applications, the size of one or both of the electrical connectors must be relatively small. This can present manufacturing difficulties. For example, many military vehicles have a communication system that utilizes a first electrical connector that is mounted within the vehicle. A communication device having a second electrical connector can be deployed with the vehicle by detachably connecting the second electrical connector with the first electrical connector. In such applications, physical size limitations are often imposed on the electrical connectors. The resulting electrical connectors are often referred to as “low profile” connectors.
The reduced size of such low profile connectors can present manufacturing difficulties. For example, low profile connectors typically include a connector body having a compact longitudinal length and an adaptor that extends laterally outwardly from the connector body. An insert having a plurality of either male or female contacts is mounted in the connector body for engagement with the other electrical connector. A wire bundle extends through adaptor and the individual wires of the bundle are each connected with one of the contacts on the insert. For such low profile connectors it is common to first attach the adaptor to the connector body, machine the adaptor after installation on the body and insert the wire bundle through the adaptor after machining the adaptor. Each of the wires are connected to one of the contacts on the insert after inserting the wire bundle through the adaptor and only then is the insert installed in the connector body. This sequence of events typically requires a wire-clearance cut-out on the insert to allow the insert to be installed in the connector body.
When manufacturing a connector in this manner, the post-installation machining of the adaptor significantly increases the expense of manufacturing the electrical connector and the wire-passage cut-out on the insert forms an undesirable manufacturing artifact on the final product. An electrical connector design that provided for the manufacture of a low profile electrical connector which eliminated one or both of these attributes of existing low profile connectors is desirable.